War edged closer last night as Turkey lined up warships and tanks against neighbouring Syria.

Turkish forces were on yellow alert, one step away from military engagement, as naval destroyers moved in to protect their Mediterranean coast and a brigade of tanks rolled up to the 560-mile Syrian border.

The desperate military escalation came as the Turkish government warned it will smash President Assad’s forces if they dare to bombard towns north of their boundary again.

Syrian refugees fled for Turkey. And the UN stood reeling from the Turkish Prime Minister’s accusations of inaction against Syria’s shelling.

His artillery has hit back a dozen times in the past two weeks, killing 12 Syrian troops but fears are growing that fresh cross-border shelling will lead to war.

If that happens NATO, and therefore Britain, could be sucked into conflict against Syria, backed by Iran, Russia and Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

Tensions were high in the Turkish border town of Akcakale, where two women and three children were killed by a Syrian mortar attack just days ago.

Troops were digging in artillery positions yesterday and just outside the dusty frontier town the army was positioning deadly T-155 Firtina (Storm) howitzers.

Watching from the rooftops, we could see Turkey’s artillery barrels trained south to Syria. A few miles away a squadron of M-60T Sabra tanks were hidden in a clump of trees, guns also pointing towards Assad’s troops, 10 miles to the south.

Many locals have fled, fearing civil war will breach the Akcakale border as Assad turns his troops on Turkish regions sympathetic to the rebels fighting him.